Photo Albums

Photos of Hafez Assad and his son Bashar Assad are festooned all over Syria and Lebanon. This gallery documents how a cult-of-personality for the Assads has been established by the Syrian regime in both countries. The photos come from a variety of sources.

February 03, 2008

Bigmouth Strikes Again: Listening to Morrissey in Tehran?

Could the Moz himself be planning a show in Iran? That's the report from the Times of London:

The singer, whose songs include Bigmouth Strikes Again and Heaven Knows I’m
Miserable Now, is in talks with the Iranian government and the Foreign
Office about staging a performance in Tehran later this year.

Morrissey, 48, who has been outspoken in attacking the allied invasion of
Iraq, says he wants to link the visit to other planned concerts on a tour of
the Middle East. His management team is in contact with the music office at
the Islamic culture and guidance ministry in Tehran.

Rock groups are allowed to perform only with a licence from the ministry and
there are strict guidelines about conduct under Iran’s sharia (Islamic law).
Violators can receive imprisonment, fines or the lash.

“I would love to sing in Tehran,” said the former Smiths front man, whose most
recent album, Ringleader of the Tormentors, opened with the song I Will See
You in Far-off Places...

Iran is still suspicious of pop music. Last summer police raided an
underground festival in an orchard near the town of Karaj to stop what they
called a “provocative, satanic concert”. More than 200 people were arrested.

If the event does go ahead, Morrissey will have to play to an audience
segregated by gender. Women would be allowed only if they stayed in
roped-off areas and wore modest clothing, including headscarves. All song
lyrics would be vetted. Female backing vocalists and mixed dancing in the
aisles would be outlawed and beer, of course, would be banned.

So basically it's no longer a rock concert but an event controlled by Tehran's thought-police. Still, Morrissey could get good mileage out of his lyric from the old Smiths' hit "Ask": "If it's not love, then it's the bomb that will bring us together..."